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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Cycles of family life

There are rhythms to family life especially if you have more than one child. The iterations of children going through milestones and performances and graduations one after the other, with a couple years or many years scattered between them, provide a routine of sorts. A feeling of "I think we've done this before."

Our family has had rhythms of sickness. I suspect all families do.

For a long, long time, we had cycles of surgery.

2006--D had his gallbladder removed.
2007--G was born via c-section.
2008--G had bilateral myringotomy with tubes.
2009--M was born via c-section.
2010--M had bilateral myringotomy with tubes.
2011--M had bilateral myringotomy with tubes, and N had tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy.
2012--Blip year with no surgeries. Our FSA might have made it to September.
2013--M had tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy and bilateral myringotomy with tubes.
2014--M had bilateral myringotomy with tubes.

For the past 3 years, we've had vacation cycles of sickness/injury.

2014--M developed the ear infection from hell as we began our trip to Sanibel, FL.
2015--D pulled a muscle in his back and got a steroid shot/muscle relaxers while in Orlando, FL.
2016--N, G, and M all had a virus while we were in Michigan.

We are currently in the month-long virus that interfered with Michigan that has both boys on oral antibiotics due to subsequent sinus/ear infections and D down-for-the-count (although trying mightily to work from home). I keep wondering if I will be the last man to fall or if, somehow, it might pass me by. I'm not sure what the incubation period is, but I have been breathed on/coughed on for the past month by 4 other people so hopefully I have some kind of super-mom immunity.

It should make me feel better to see a record of these cycles and to remember that we do move beyond them. Minor illnesses and issues, all, but the repetitiveness of them makes it feel sometimes like it is never.going.to.end.

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About Me

I am a mom of three diagnosed with OCD and GAD during my 2004-2005 postpartum period, although I very likely have been dealing with both since about age 10. They didn't disorder my life enough to require meds and therapy until after I became a mom.